First ever smoke today

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Guest

Guest
Folks,

Just wanted to thank y'all for the great knowledge and wisdom you've shared on this board.

I did my first ever smoke today. Last fall I had bought a square verticle Brinkmann charcoal smoker at Walmart on clearance for $25.00. Thanks to what I had learned here, I also bought a grill grate to put into the charcoal pan, and a clay tray to put into the water pan.

I had read that people had problems getting this unit to heat over 200 degrees, so that was my primary concern when I fired it up today. I'm happy to report I had no trouble getting temps between 250 - 300 degrees. I was also happy to see that it held temperature very well as I adjusted the air vents. My fire lasted about 4 hours.

I smoked a rack of ribs, a pork loin, and about a dozen brats. Although I still have alot to learn, I must say the food all came out absolutely delicious. If anything I probably got carried away and put too much smoke thru (I used hickory and apple). Although I must say I rather enjoyed the smokey, slightly bitter twang the food had. May have been a bit overpowering for some tastes, but I thought it was great.

thanks again for all the great advice y'all departed to me.
 
Agreed. That 1st cook is a NBD waiting to happen.
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Now that it's over, your future cooks will be much better.
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Bill
 
Paul,

I have the same Vertical Brinkmann that I also bought from WalMart. I used it before I bought my WSM. I also had to add a charcoal grate to the charcoal bowl to keep the charcoal from being snuffed out by its own ashes. My main problem with it was airleaks around the large door. Mine had a lot of air leaking around the door, so it tended to run hot. This also made it hard to maintain a steady temperature.

Rusty
 
Rusty,

Thanks for the info. I did see a fair amount of smoke leaking from the door. Fortunately by adusting mostly the bottom vents, I was able to raise and lower the temp reliably. The temperature would remain stable once the vents settings were made. Of course, I was probably +/- 25 degrees of any set temp thru out the smoke.
 
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